Nothing Like Summer in the City (Out on the Fire Escape)
by ceramicturtle
Summary: John can't wait all summer to doodling and spending time with his best friend Alex. Alex is not exactly looking forward to a summer of pining silently after the amazing boy he calls his best friend. *Reviews are much appreciated - Let me know if I should continue this, I'm not sure how it's going*
1. Chapter 1

John Laurens loved summer in NYC. He liked the stifling humidity, the warm rains, and the grumbling thunderstorms, making him possibly the only person in New York City who legitimately enjoyed the weather. He liked the long days and short nights, because being awake more often gave him more time to draw outside on his fire escape. And boy, did he draw.

He drew everyone who walked under his apartment, from the lady with the blue and purple waist length cornrows to the guy who always had a parrot on his shoulder.

But by far his most favorite person to draw was his best friend, Alex. Whenever John sat down with his sketchpad without really paying attention, he would look down a few minutes later to find Alex's face looking up at him.

He couldn't help it; Alex's profile just came to him naturally: his straight nose, crooked grin, messy hair, and his eyes. Oh God, his eyes. John could write poetry about those eyes (not that he'd ever tried, because that would be weird). They sparkled when he laughed, burned furiously when he was angry, and lit up whenever he got a new idea, which was just about every other minute. His eyes were deep and blue, and-

 _Snap out of it, dude!_ A part of his brain commanded, and suddenly John was whisked back to the present, where another picture of Alex had miraculously appeared in his sketchpad. He shook his head at his own hopelessness, but continued to sketch Alex's laughing face.

"Hey, J-Lo, whatcha' drawin'?" said a voice from above. John's lips quirked at the nickname.

"Don't call me that," he said, purely out of habit. His heart did a backflip when he glanced behind him to see Alex grinning at him upside-down from the fire escape ladder. Alex lived in the apartment directly above him, and he was known to visit via the fire escape and into John's bedroom window, which John did not mind at all.

"You know you love it," Alex shot back as he climbed all the way down the ladder.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do _not_."

"Do _too_."

"Shut up." Alex grinned and propped his arm on John's shoulder, whose heart sped up more than he was willing to admit at the contact.

"You know that's never gonna happen." He peered at the sketchpad, "Is that me?" John felt his face heat up.

"Uhh, Maybe."

"Man, that's really good. I mean- wow, I wish I looked that good in real life," Alex muttered, leaning further over John's shoulder to scour the image.

 _You look even better in real life_ , John thought to himself. _Wait, what?_

"I'm glad your dad is finally letting you take classes," Alex said. He stood all the way back up and looked John in the eye. John could only nod in response to his statement as he immediately got lost in Alex's ocean eyes. He was dragged out of his trance when Alex cast his eyes upward at Johns hair. He reached up with the arm that wasn't leaning on John's shoulder and pulled back one of John's curls, watching with a smirk as it _sproinged_ back into place.

"Will you ever stop doing that?" John asked, amused. "You've been at it since kindergarten." Alex grinned again.

"I will never be satisfied," Alex declared. John snickered.

"You are so weird."

"Yep, that's why you love me." John felt his face flush suddenly. _Did Alex really just say that?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Did I really just say that?_ Alex thought with horror, his cheeks going red. _Oh my God, you idiot,_ snapped the disapproving voice in his head, _You're gonna freak him out, and then he's gonna hate you and never talk to you again, and you're never gonna find another friend-_ _STOP!_ The rational part of him screamed. He was getting better at overriding his Angry Voice, but he still needed work. _It's gonna be fine, you're okay, you're alive, look around, look around._

"Yeah, it is, you big dork," John said easily, and Alex let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. _See? It's all cool. No biggie._ Alex turned his attention back to the sketch that John was still working on.

It was really hard to not be visibly thrilled that John was drawing him. Being totally in love with his best friend was hard enough to cover up on a daily basis, so whenever he did something especially cute, Alex had to bite his tongue to keep from reacting audibly.

He died a little inside every time John scrunched up his nose when he sketched or when his cosmos of freckles was especially adorable, or when he flashed his brilliant smile.

The only problem with this whole ordeal was that there was no way that Alex was going to jeopardize their friendship because of some unreciprocated feelings. Not a chance.

Of course, spending the rest of who-knows-how-long pining after his best friend didn't sound so great either, but it was better than being left alone and heartbroken.

Besides, maybe if he ignored his feelings, they'd eventually go away. He could control this, right? Right?

"Hey," said John suddenly. "Alex. Aaaaalex. _Earth to Alex_ ," John said, waving a hand in front of his friend's face.

"Huh-what?" John gave Alex his stunning smile.

"Lost up there again, huh?" he said, tapping Alex's forehead. Alex couldn't help returning John's grin.

"Come on, let's go climb Whomper," Alex said, standing up and tugging at John's arm. Whomper was the giant tree out in front of their apartment complex that Alex had named after the Whomping Willow when he was going through his Harry Potter phase. Except, it wasn't really a phase. It was more like a lifestyle.

The boys climbed through John's bedroom window, tromped through his apartment, and raced down the five flights of stairs. When they reached the ground floor, John took one look at who was sitting behind the desk in the lobby and threw out an arm, catching Alex before he could go hurtling past him.

"Old King Georgie is back!" John whispered.

"No way!" Alex hissed back.

"You owe me ten bucks!"

was a decrepit old man who still worked in the apartment's lobby even though he was beyond the help of hearing aids. He had a cane that he often forgot he needed, so he injured himself frequently by trying to go somewhere without it. He stayed in the hospital for weeks at a time, and every time Alex and John bet money on whether he would come back.

"I thought for sure he was dead this time!" Alex whined under his breath.

"Old dude's immortal," John whispered in Alex's ear, sending shivers down his spine. _If he only knew what that did to me,_ he thought. _But he can never know. It would ruin everything._


	3. Chapter 3

Once they got outside, John's eyes locked on to Whompy.

"Race you there!" he shouted, sprinting across the small lawn.

"No fair! Your legs are way longer!" Alex complained, running after him.

Whompy wasn't actually a willow tree; it was a large maple. Climbing Whompy was relatively easy because of a thick branch that bent downwards like a ramp until it touched the ground. The ramp branch had several large knot holes that served as sturdy footholds, making it easy to reach the branches above.

John was three branches above the ramp branch when Alex reached the tree, giving him an excellent view of Alex's arm muscles as he pulled his way up. _How does a kid that spends hours in the library and typing on a computer get that muscular?!_ Hang on, where did that thought come from? _Stop checking out your best friend._

He mentally slapped himself and continued climbing. He'd always loved climbing trees, feeling the rough bark beneath his fingers and the cool leaves against his face.

He kept going until he reached his sit spot. It was a nice sturdy branch about two-thirds of the way up the tree, with a view of the street almost as good as his fire escape's. Alex's sit spot was a few feet above his, because of course Alex had to climb the highest.

When he finally caught up, Alex hoisted himself into his sit spot and leaned back against Whompy's trunk. His right leg dangled down over the side of the branch he sat on that went over John's head. Alex inhaled deeply.

"I wish I could live up here," he said wistfully. John nodded in agreement. Being up in Whompy felt like he was elevated above all of his problems. The tree had been their safe haven for years. It was the first place they went whenever something went wrong.

If one of them had had a rough day, the other knew where to look. John had come up here every day for weeks when his mom had passed away. Alex had been there every step of the way during that terrible endeavor. That was two years ago, when they were just fifteen.

"Yo! Alex! Johnny!" shouted a deep voice from below.

"Lovebirds! Down 'ere!" chimed in a thickly accented French one. John would recognize those voices anywhere. He grinned down at the sidewalk.

"'Sup, Herc? Hey Laf!" he called down. Hercules Mulligan, known as Herc for short, was tall, dark, and an excellent tailor. He had a different beanie for every day of the week. Lafayette was slender, freckled, and had a mass of frizzy dark hair he kept tied back in a tight ponytail. He'd come from France when he was eleven.

Herc took one look at Alex and John nestled in Whompy's branches and began to sing in his booming voice,

"Hamilton and Laurens, sittin' in a tree, K-" his singing was stopped abruptly when a Nike shoe hit him in the stomach. John turned to see Alex missing a shoe, his arm still extended from the throw, looking as surprised as everyone else.

"That was dramatic," John said, and everyone burst out laughing. He couldn't tell for sure, but Alex didn't look like he was laughing as much as everyone else. _Is he okay? Did Herc really embarrass him that much?_

John felt a disappointed twinge in his stomach, but he wasn't quite sure why.


End file.
